Birth of Hope: 21 babies born in Shramik special trains since May 1st!

Birth of a child would always give hope for the mother and when the mother is the migrant worker and if she gives birth to her child at this hard and painful time, her hope would be doubled by seeing the child's face and when the newborn child gets a ceremonial welcome to the world by the unknown people who celebrate the birth, the mother would burst out with tears and smile which would diminish the pain that she endures currently, as a migrant worker.

Since May 1st, 21 migrant women have become a mother for the child that born, not in the hospital, but onboard Shramik special trains which have been ferrying the stranded migrant workers to their home states amid the lockdown. While they traveled with the hope to rejoin with their families, their hopes were doubled by giving birth to their babies on board, with the help of onboard staff.

A medical team can be seen carrying a newborn baby as a migrant woman delivers the body onboard Tripura-Bihar Shramik train

According to the officials, they have witnessed births of 21 babies on the special trains since May 1st. For these women, their compartments were turned into the labor rooms, and the team of doctors, the railway staff, and women passengers had been there while they delivered their babies. The Railways have been ensuring to provide necessary medicines and the authorities are also making arrangements to shift the women to the hospital if required.

In one of the cases, a 35-year-old pregnant migrant woman, who was traveling to Muzaffarpur, Bihar from Jamnagar, Gujarat on May 8 in Shramik special, had encountered the labor pain around midnight and the non-stop special train was stopped at the Agra Fort Station with the view of providing her the medical treatment. According to the officials, the onboard staff had informed the doctors at the Agra Fort station about the condition of the woman.

The train stopped at Agra fort around 4.30 am on May 9 and the doctors have instructed the passengers in the woman's compartment to hop out from the coach turning it as a labor room and moments later, the woman delivered a healthy baby girl and the mother and newborn continued their journey along with the passengers who welcomed and cheered the birth. She arrived at her destination with the newborn and new hope.

File photo: A family of migrant workers waits for the transport with the child at Anand Vihar bus terminus in New Delhi amid the lockdown

The officials stated that the onboard staff would be alerting the stations on the medical emergency and the doctors would always be available to deal with any sort of emergency and the passengers would be given with medical advice and essential medicines to continue their journeys and they would also be provided with the ambulance to take them to the hospital in case of the requirements.

According to the reports, the West Central Railway zone has witnessed more births with seven babies followed by three each in South East Central Railway and North Central Railway. The Central Railway zone has recorded two births so far. According to the Indian Railways, it has operated over 2100 trains so far since May 1st and it has ferried more than 21.5 lakh migrants to their home states amid the lockdown.